The present invention relates to an improvement in the mechanisms used to raise and lower skied vehicles from the surface of ice. More specifically, to an improvement in the mechanisms employed to raise and lower skied vehicles from the surface of ice that additionally incorporates a mechanism for effectively loosening a ski that has frozen into the ice, thereby allowing such a vehicle to be easily moved from place to place with the minimum amount of effort from the operators.
The use of skis in conjunction with vehicles or transportable structures intended for use in winter for off road situations is very popular today. The most common example of the vehicles so equipped is the snowmobile and skis are also used on transportable structures such as icehouses used for fishing on frozen lakes. A common characteristic to both of these is that if they are left to sit in one position over an extended period of time, the bottom surface of their skis can become frozen into the surface of the ice or snow upon which they are sitting. Due to the nature of icehouses and the fact that they are commonly left stationary for long periods of time, the freeze in of the skis is more problematic in this application and so the following discussion will focus on the circumstances surrounding the problem as it applies to icehouses. However, it must be noted that the same principles apply equally to snowmobiles as well as any other vehicle that employs the use of skis as a mechanism to travel over frozen surfaces.
Along with the use of skis, many icehouses in use today also employ a mechanism that allows the body of the icehouse to be raised up off of the frozen surface to allow for its transport and to be lowered down on to the surface to facilitate its use for ice fishing. One problem with the raising and lowering systems in use is that they often have a component of lateral ski movement in the raising and lowering process. This lateral movement, or scuffing, creates an additional problem that is associated with the ski freezing into the ice. The ski being frozen in locks it in place and therefore does not allow the ski to move laterally during the raising and lowering process. If the ski is unable to move in this manner, the raising and lowering process itself can be inhibited. If this occurs when the icehouse is in the lowered position, it makes it impossible to move it thereby creating a situation in which its usefulness is limited or requiring drastic measures to get the icehouse off the ice. On the other hand, if the locking of the raising and lowering mechanism due to ski freeze in occurs when the icehouse is in the raised position, its usefulness for ice fishing is limited, as its mobility is restriced.
Even in situations in which the other mechanisms of the icehouse are unaffected by ski freeze in, the ski's propensity to freeze to the surface of the ice can be problematic and expensive to icehouse operators. The difficulties arise from the fact that in order for the icehouse to be moved, either for simply changing fishing locations or to remove from the surface of the ice, the skis must be broken loose from the ice. At the very least, this requires that the operator physically break them free by going outside and applying lateral rocking, leveraged motions to the skis until they are free. This is a somewhat delicate operation as there are components of the skis and the undercarriage to which they are attached that are not designed to withstand these kinds of forces. If this process is not accomplished with the required degree of care, the resulting damage may not only increase the costs involved in the operation of an icehouse, but also increase the time required to move the icehouse as desired or required.
Therefore, it can be seen that it would be desirable to provide a mechanism employed for the raising and lowering of apparatuses such as icehouses that employ skis for movement over snow or ice in such a manner so that such icehouses can be quickly and effectively lowered for use as an ice fishing platform or raised so that it can be effectively transported. Additionally, it can also be seen that it would be desirable to provide such a mechanism that would incorporate a means by which a ski that has become frozen into the surface of the ice or snow can be easily and effectively broken free to facilitate the transport of the icehouse in a manner that does not damage the ski or any of the related components.